Suicide Squad

I think the IMDb user rating of 6.5 perfectly encapsulates what to expect. I use the site mainly to calibrate my expectations before watching a blockbuster or decide to invest my time in giving an indie feature a chance.

Suicide Squad has such star power and superhero connections that I was going to watch it no matter what the user reviews said (I always disregard critic reviews as they rarely are helpful) and feel like many viewers were going to as well.

The movie has cool set pieces, action scenes and fantastic costumes. However, the plot is so muddled and choppy it detracts from the viewing experience. Another weak link is the enemy - no real backstory to draw us in, almost no explanation on what the enemy is building, and almost laughable minions for the "heroes" to combat.

There are so many cool characters, I think the movie and plot would have been better served if this had been Part I of a series, rather a stand alone movie.

I read an article that stated David Ayer only had six weeks to put a script together and it unfortunately it shows. I felt like I was watching a long trailer - cool and fun scenes that were disconnected from each other.

I certainly won't say to pass on this, especially comic book fans, but be warned it is a let down. Especially, considering the awesome source material the director had to work with.

Y'know I didn't hate this like everyone in the world seems to. The characters were colorful, big. I guess it's a tough task to get them all equal screen time. My suggestion would have been to cut back on the members. Problem solved.

It doesn't quite have the fun of the trailer, which can happen when someone not involved with film cuts something that may not represent the film.

Harley Quinn obviously a stand out, but the BIG ONE for me, was seeing Batman, albeit briefly. Just enough to tantalize. Wetted my appetite for his solo film which can't come soon enough.

Is this movie terrible? Absolutely not

Is this movie great? Absolutely not.

I always heard from people that they either HATED or LOVED this movie. And for me it was neither.

The audience for this film is served with a classic action movie/comic book. "The world is in danger! There must be a solution! Although there are bumps between the characters along the way, eventually, we'll solve the problem"

The interesting twist is *supposed* to be that instead of classic superheroes, we have bad guys. To that I say "so what?". The movie didn't really establish why I should care about much of what was going on on screen—it was all just classic popcorn movie action and sequences that were occasionally broken up by half-attempts at character development.

So basically i still enjoy most of the movie, i still entertained and engaged in the story most of the time, it's just that the climax of the movie just didn't work for me and it was super boring, and after i watch the movie, problems started to come more, from the main villain of the movie that are not that great but it's not terrible either, i wish we've seen it more in the movie, yes, Jared Leto's Joker wasn't particularly good, some couple of slow scene in the first two act not including the third act and climax, but what really makes Suicide Squad still works in a way is because the Suicide Squad themselves, each of the characters works and their performed it good enough in my opinion, and the sort of military people also works which is great, the team's backstory especially Will Smith Deadshot works perfectly, and the soundtrack of the film was great, so overall Suicide Squad was definitely far from perfect and it is fills with problematic stuff but i myself was entertaining most of the film and there is still quite a lot of legit good moments in the film, i'd say the first two act was mostly good, third act was meh, and it just some decisions in it and boring climax plus the rest of the stuff i already mention ruined it, it was overall an ok movie.

'Suicide Squad' didn't sound so bad in hindsight. The concept was actually pretty interesting and there is a good deal of talent in the cast. Unfortunately what should have been a winner turned out to be a sore loser, even more of a wasted opportunity than 'Batman vs. Superman'.

The costume and production design is both brooding and vibrantly colourful. There are two performances that are good. One is the enormously fun but also just as deliciously deranged Margot Robbie, her Harley Quinn being the film's most interesting character. The other is a menacing Viola Davis, proving that even a stony face makes one feel uneasy. El Diablo is also entertaining, and one of the few characters to be used right and feel necessary.

However, for me Will Smith didn't work. You don't see him as Deadshot, you see him playing himself in wooden fashion here and plays Deadshot too jovially, something that Deadshot isn't really, that he also had two introductions gives an indication that the writers didn't know how to characterise the character. Enchantress is a pretty lame villain played with all cheese no menace by Cara Delevigne, while Jared Leto's Joker proves pointless and misplaced to the story (other than giving Harley Quinn backstory which wasn't fleshed out enough). Likewise with the Batman of Ben Affleck, while Killer Croc has nothing to do.

One of 'Suicide Squad's' biggest failings is its treatment of the characters. Only Harley Quinn is fully fleshed out, while many characters are either given short shrift or either there was no use to them being there, for example what was the point of having Slipknot and then dispatch the character so quickly and cheaply. This is the consequences of having too many characters and a very muddled story that not only feels rushed but also incredibly confused. The script is equally a mess, with forced and very lazily-written jokes.

Visually, other than the costume and set design, 'Suicide Squad' doesn't have the redeeming value of looking good. Editing is choppy and the special effects range from average at best but mostly amateurish. The action scenes are very routine and less than thrilling, chemistry is extremely limited and suspense is next to zero. Plus the music is too constant and far too loud that it becomes a nauseating assault on the ears.

In conclusion, could have been a fun film but flounders badly due to lame execution that wastes its characters and much of the cast (with only Davis and particularly Robbie standing out). 3/10 Bethany Cox